Nope. No, TeleChoice do not own their own network. Instead of spending the years and billions of dollars required to establish their own networks, they rent and then resell ( part of ) the Telstra 3G + 4G network to their customers. This allows them to focus on the non-network aspects of their service, including customer service and, importantly, price.

The Telstra 3G network they use covers 98.8%of the population and around 1.6 million square Kilometers. That’s more than the whole of Optus’ 4G network.

TeleChoice use a component of ( not all of ) the Telstra 4G Mobile network. If you choose TeleChoice, you’ll get 98.8% population coverage with your SIM.

What is an MVNO? Is TeleChoice an MVNO?

An MVNO is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator and yes, TeleChoice are an MVNO.

MVNOs rent access to a phone company network and resell it to you, just as an electricity or gas provider might. TeleChoice resell parts of the Telstra Mobile Network.

That’s not the full Telstra network. Roughly, the network TeleChoice will offer you is about the same size in square Km as the Optus network.

The only phone company which resells the entire Telstra network ( other that Telstra themselves ) is Boost Mobile.

Can I tether my phone using TeleChoices plans?

Tethering is using your phone (or a wireless broadband modem) to access the mobile data network with a phone plan. You can either hard-wire connect your phone to your laptop with a USB cable or use a ‘hotspot’ to offer WiFi access to the cellular internet.

Yes, you can use your phone this way if you’re on the TeleChoice network.

You’ll get 3G / 4G speeds when you tether your phone to the Telstra network through TeleChoice, depending on the sort of device you use, and the location you’re in.

Will TeleChoice’s plans / SIMs work in an iPhone?

They will but remember, you’ll need the right size of SIM. TeleChoice are a 3G + 4G network reseller. Whichever iPhone you have, you’ll get the best speeds it’s capable of.

Check our iPhone SIM Only page for more if you’d like details of the right SIM and / or to compare TeleChoice to all other relevant iPhone plans.

Can I keep my phone number if I choose TeleChoice?

Yes, you can. The process is simple. It’s called porting. It’s free, quick, easy and TeleChoice will do it for you. We’ve written about it extensively, many times, including here.

Do TeleChoice have any PAYG plan options?

Weirdly, no they don’t offer PAYG plans. With such a strong range of offerings including fixed broadband and a swathe of contract and month-to-month SIM Only plans. We think this will change before too long, too.

Do they have an app? How can you check your usage?

At the moment, TeleChoice do not have a self service app to help you manage your usage. They’re working on it, we’re told. But then, we were told that 5 years ago, too.

For now, it’s just the usual call center dial-in to check your usage or adapt your plan features. They also allow you to check your usage with a USSD code – which is something you don’t hear phone companies asking users to do anymore.

You can, as we’ve mentioned, go in to a TeleChoice retail outlet in order to manage your account, pay bills, change your plan, or check how much you’ve used. Useful but clearly less convenient than an app.

Who should buy a TeleChoice plan and who shouldn’t?

We’ve compared plans and providers on this page. See if you can find a deal which suits you better.

What's good

We've compared TeleChoice so you don't have to

Better data / $ deals are available

We show better deals on the page below

What's bad

12 / 24 mo. contracts not right for everyone

Plain weird 7 and 13-month terms on prepaid plans

Everything you need to know about TeleChoice and your alternatives

TeleChoice are a smaller but still credible SIM Only phone plan provider. They originally launched as an MVNOin late 2014.

TeleChoice’s plans have a number of worthwhile attributes:

They resell part of the Telstra 3G /4G network: Note, TeleChoice do not provide access to the full Telstra network. See details on coverage footprint, below.

Now sell both types of plan: Their range includes both prepaid and postpaid plan options. The set up of their ‘prepaid’ plans is extremely unusual, potentially because they appear to be using their postpaid billing system to provide something that appears to be a prepaid plan.

Contract Options: Additionally, TeleChoice offer 12 and 24 month contract options which is exceptionally rare in market at the moment.

We do not recommend TeleChoice

For us, TeleChoice do not stand out in the market. Their plans have very basic inclusions (none of the bells and whistles you’ll find elsewhere – we cover the details of the sorts of freebies you can pick up in a phone plan, below). In fact, in some ways, TeleChoice don’t even cover the basics that one might expect from a modern phone company. For example, TeleChoice are one of the few modern telcos which don’t have a self-service app to helps their customers manage their accounts. (Despite evidence suggesting that those apps improve customer satisfaction).

The alternative phone plans we show on this page:

Offer better value for money than TeleChoice: In most cases, the alternative offers we show provide more mobile data, for the same or less $, on an equal network and which do not require you to commit to a contract term. Essentially, our view is that these plans are a better value alternative for you.

On comparable networks: TeleChoice use a proportion of the full Telstra Network, which causes confusion for some people – understandably. The coverage, in square Kilometers, that you’ll get from TeleChoice is about the same as you’ll get from Optus themselves, as well as Optus Network resellers, such as OVO Mobile, Amaysim, Southern Phone and others. (See recommended alternative plans, in the table above.)

In brief – TeleChoice may be interesting to you if:

You want to have a contract agreement with your phone company:TeleChoice have a relatively large plan range offering, which is unusual for a network reseller. Network resellers usually try and keep things simple for their customers. TeleChoice have chosen to offer a range of both month-to-month plans and contract plans which, if you sign up for a 12-month tenure, will be slightly cheaper than the 30-day at a time alternative. In our view, TeleChoice’s range is confusing. If you agree and you want to keep it simple, we recommend you focus just on the month-to-month plans.

You want international calls in your plan:TeleChoice is one provider who offer this benefit. In our view, International Calls is either a key decision criteria for customers or it’s not. If you need International Minutes as part of your plan, consider reviewing our International Calls page.

Alternatives to TeleChoice:

You want better value:Most users will find they get better value per GB of mobile data from the alternative phone plans that we list on this page, than they will from TeleChoice.

Want access to the full Telstra Mobile Network but don’t want to pay Telstra rates?Boost Mobile also have 4G speeds included in their pricing on the Telstra Mobile Network. If you’re between those two specific price points, make sure you are comparing TeleChoice equally. Remember, TeleChoice’s plans include International calls – Boost’s don’t. And some of the data that Boost offer can only be used during the weekend; TeleChoice’s can be used at any time.

This is especially true if you live in a city:Our view is that if you live in a city, you can get better rates with a Vodafone or Optus network reseller. The network Telstra resell through their MVNO partners is a fair amount smaller than their own retail network. The reason Telstra has done this is clear. Their stated goal is to offer a wholesale plan range with comparable coverage and speed to Vodafone and Optus, through partners like TeleChoice. As a result, you may as well just take the cheaper alternative, especially in cities. There has been a lot of news recently about the improved quality of the Vodafone network. You might not believe it, but the Vodafone 4G network is actually just as good as the Telstra 4G these days.

You want sport in your plan:Telstra, Optus, and OVO Mobile all offer free included sport in their phone plans.

You prefer fairer data plans: Phone companies are finally getting fairer about how they deal with the mobile data they include in their phone plans. Features like Data Vault and Data Rollover are materially improving how people feel about their phone plans.

TeleChoice move to the Telstra 4G network

TeleChoice were given 4G network access by Telstra’s wholesale department in May 2015. The key things you need to know about the network TeleChoice use are:

Their 3G coverage is about the same as Optus’:You’ll get 3G speeds when you are out of range of the Telstra reseller 4G network, or if you have an older, 3G phone which can’t use the 4G network. The Telstra’s 3G network isn’t bad for speeds. If you’re like most people, you’ll judge the quality of the Telstra 3G network by whether or not you can watch a YouTube clip on it – and you can. And it’s great for coverage. It reaches 2.5m square Km
of Australia, which is 99%
of the population.

4G coverage:Network resellers like TeleChoice don’t get access to the entire Telstra 4G network. They’re provided a proportion of it. TeleChoice’s SIMs enable access to around 94%
of the population with their 4G access. This aspect of the network is limited to 100Mbps, which is so fast it’s not a practical limitation at all. Telechoice cite their typical download speeds as 2-50Mbps, using the Telstra 4G network.

Who else uses this network?:Telstra resell their 3G and 4G networks to a number of other smaller phone companies. Woolworths, Aldi and Boost Mobile.

Ultimately, the provision of 4G through network resellers like TeleChoice leveled the playing field with Optus resellers who had had it for some time previously. Telstra’s reseller base, offering 4G to 94%
of the population, is comparable to Optus’ 4G network ( which Amaysim Mobile, OVO and Bendigo Mobile all provide ). Optus now cover 96.6% of the Australian population
of the population with their 4G network.

If you’d like more information on Australian network comparisons, read our article.

Summary – TeleChoice struggle for relevance

TeleChoice are a ‘me too’ phone company with little that would cause us to recommend them to you. Their month-to-month SIM Only plans add variety to the low spend Telstra network reseller segment. There is a small chance that some shoppers who are searching for a 12 or 24-month contract will be drawn to their slightly better rates, and you can see why some people take the TeleChoice route. International calls can be a nice incentive, especially for such a diverse nation, although there are now a lot of alternative providers that also include International Calls in their plans.

Instead, we suggest you look to the alternatives on display on this page for better pricing and more data per $.

See all SIM Only plans

If you need another network, for example you’re after an unlimited plan with Telstra coverage, or you live in a city and you’re happy with Vodafone, you might like to check our SIM Only Comparison page and compare all the plans ( including every one mentioned on this page. )